Russian Connection During the course of my research I have followed many leads. One of the most interesting was the possible relationship to a famous Russian Admiral.I recieved some very interesting information from Theuns Kroezen in South Africa in March 2002. He informed me that a few years ago a Russian sailing vessel (naval training ship) entered Cape Town harbour. The name of the ship was the Kroezenstern. Theuns father contacted the Russian embassy and was told that the ship was named after an Admiral Kroezen. Following this lead I located a Sailing Vessel the Ivan Kruzenshtern, which is a Training ship for the Fishery Academy in Kaliningrad I did find out quite a bit about the ship and her namesake, Admiral Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern. Unfortunately the information I found out about the Admiral only confirmed that there was no relationship with him. This was very dissapointing. Even though there is no link to Admiral Kruzenshtern I have decided to devote some space to him. This page stands as a testimoney to the endless leads that genealogists follow trying to track down their Family Trees. I am sure that many other people who are researching their family trees have been through something similar and will understand my dissapointment. I thank Anatoly Zagorodny, Associate Professor, Kaliningrad State Technical University for his assistance with my search. Not with standing that dissapointment, there did turn out to be a link of sorts. The STS Kruzenshtern was originally the SS Padua built for a German Company. Before WW2 she was used mainly on the wheat trade and visted South Australia, not only that, she set a record time of 67 days from Hamburg to Port Lincoln, which is where I live. Tenuous I know, but still a link. Anyhow I think sailing vessells are marvellous and this is worthwhile including just for that reason alone. I have found on the Rusnet Web Page in a section devoted to "300 Years of Russian Navy", the following reference: Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern (1770-1846) - He was a navigator, a Corresponding Member (1803) and the honorary Member of St.Petersburg Academy of Science, an admiral. He was a founder of oceanography, the head of the first expedition around the world (1803-1806) on the ship "Nadezda" (commander I.F.Bellinsgauzen) and "Neva" (commander U.F.Lisyansky). In 1827-1842 he was a headmaster of the Naval Military School. I was also directed to the Alexandro Malaspina Research Centre and on the following page http://www.mala.bc.ca/~black/amrc/krusen.htm found this reference:
was born on November 19, 1770 in Hagudi, now Rapla, Estonia, and died on August 24, 1846, in Revel [now Tallinn]. He commanded the first Russian expedition (1803-1806) to explore the full extent of the Pacific Ocean and to circumnavigate the globe. The expedition entered the Pacific by way of Cape Horn, and visited, among other places, the Marquesas, Kamchatka (where Krusenstern had a variety of goods to deliver), Sakhalin (where he made contact with the Mongols), and Canton. The expedition returned to Russia via the Sunda Strait and the Cape of Good Hope. It had a number of purposes, including a diplomatic mission to Japan, as part of an attempt to reinstitute trade with that country, and similar initiatives with regard to trade with China and the Pacific coast of North America, in the latter case specifically in relation to the fur trade. The voyage made a significant contribution to the knowledge of the hydrography of the Pacific coast of North America. Krusenstern spent the years between 1809 and 1813 publishing an account of his voyage. Eventually promoted to the rank of Admiral, Krusenstern directed the Royal Naval Academy from 1827 to 1842. 
STS Ivan Kruzenshtern The ship was called the Padua before the war and belonged to a German company. It was in the wheat trade and visited the South Australian wheat ports. It made a record run from Hamburg to Port Lincoln of 67 days. The ship was awarded to the Russians as War reparation, the Russians renamed it in honour of Kruzenshtern. |
